XboxEra's Reviews
Sweep the Board is a fun party game that’ll hold you and your family slash friends’ attention for the night. If you don’t have any of that, you could always go online and make new ones that way. But I think you’ll get most of your mileage out of this game by being a fan of Demon Slayer.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a lot of fun if you engage with all of it. At first, I was flying through the main quest before I slowed down and explored every inch of each map. Once I made that change I went from enjoying my time to loving it. It’s not the tightest game out there, but it has a lot of great ideas that come together for a package well worth experience.
Nobody Wants to Die is an incredible experience. Engaging detective gameplay, an incredible soundtrack, and a fascinating noir-yarn come together to create one of my favorite games in a long time.
Magical Delicacy is a beautiful albeit tedious 2D Metroidvania. It’s fun is hampered by clunky platforming and resource management that get in the way of what I want to be—a witch that can cook, not a scavenger
Darkest Dungeon 2 is a beautiful, great-sounding, difficult, and addictive roguelike. If you’re into the genre then it’s an easy recommendation on whatever platform you prefer. It works great with a controller and can last 100+ hours if you want to see everything.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is experimental Capcom at its best. While some of the fights can teeter on feeling unfair the majority of the game is a glorious mix of hack-and-slash action with a heavy dose of tower defense. It’s launching directly into Game Pass and is well worth checking out for anyone looking for 14+ hours of a damned good time.
What a refreshing delight Flock is. Bright, bold and absolutely bursting with vibrant colour and the kind of charming quirkiness that constantly teases a smile; this is truly a world of creature comforts. It doesn't do a lot 'new', but what it does do, it does brilliantly. If you're an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, you should absolutely add this one to your download queue.
Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus is among the best games I’ve played and easily stands alongside the other greats in this genre. Have you been waiting to play Silksong for years and years? Well you’ll still be waiting, but this game is an absolute must play. And at a reported cost of only 20 USD, I recommend Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus to anyone and everyone even tangibly interested in metroidvanias. Move aside little Knight, it’s the Lotus’s turn in the spotlight.
But colour me impressed. When I think indie, I rarely think “open-world”, but BINGOBELL showed me that’s it’s possible to craft a great and ambitious adventure game without a large body count. KAKU: Ancient Seals is one of the best open-world indie games I’ve ever played and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for their fill of lush environments and challenging dungeoneering.
Neon White features incredible gameplay and some of the best “one more try” levels in recent memory. It’s so fun to play that it can’t be brought down by its poor story. It is worth a purchase or Game Pass download, especially if you’ve got some friends to compete with on the leaderboards
The Case of the Golden Idol is not a game for everyone, but I suspect many who miss the classic adventure and point-and-click games of yesteryear will find an enjoyable and satisfyingly tricky detective based puzzle game to tackle here. The plot thickens as a family yearning for power ‘battle’ over the Idol, and there’s a neat twist to the proceedings that I won’t spoil here. But I fear that many will struggle with the sheer patience required to play on controller, and while it all works just as well it can, it’s a case that many players may not want to solve in the end. And that’s a shame. Here’s hoping touch support on Cloud can step in!
Lifeless Moon takes on the challenge of describing the root of evil, taking to detail what the product of one’s environment is. And even though the game struggles to tell it, it’s a novel story set in the backdrop of space and time (and occasionally the pretty vista). If you can put up with weak platforming and light puzzle solving, you can knock this one out in an afternoon and have something to think about for the evening
It’s nice to see a Neptunia game (and particularly a Compile Heart title) make its way to Xbox platforms. I’ve always thought this series knew its audience and its audience know of it—you’ll know right away whether you like Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters’ video game-themed world and characters and designs. Just keep in mind that you’ll be putting with a fairly weak RPG trapped in a time period where an overclocked GameCube was the hottest gadget on the market and Hannah Montana once had a presence at E3.
Tchia is the latest, and one of my favorite, late ports to Xbox that’s arriving thanks to Game Pass. It’s a beautiful game, with an incredible soundtrack, fun gameplay, and an emotional story full of loss and love.
NeoSprint is a fun and well-made homage to racing games of old, with a fun and precise arcade driving model from a top-down view. There’s a vast selection of tracks, a solid editor to create and download new ones, various cars and plenty of customization, including several callbacks to other Atari classics, making this game worth the time for racing fans who aren’t afraid of playing something that winks to an era before 3D racers got popular. Lack of proper online multiplayer is a bummer, although leaderboards and downloadable ghosts are in the game. Ultimately, NeoSprint is a retro arcade bonanza that I can see myself coming back to for a while, especially if the community and developers keep the content and challenges coming.
Graven is an old-school dark fantasy first-person shooter that somehow feels like no other, taking cues not only from classics like Hexen but also throwing in elements of RPG, immersive sim, and more, creating a mix that feels unique and engaging. The game’s lengthy campaign does feature some questionable progression at times, with somewhat needless soulslike elements, time-consuming puzzles, and an uneven balance, but none of these flaws could ruin the game for me. Graven is not just a mechanically fun FPS, it’s also a great journey worth experiencing for yourself – but next to spellbooks, metal swords, and medieval armor, do remember to pack a healthy dose of patience, as its often convoluted design can cause some frustration.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is my favorite expansion ever. Supplanting the twins of The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine, and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, there is more to do here than most games twice over. Outside of an over-tuned final boss, I have zero major gripes and dozens of things I adore. It’s not easy, it’s not meant to be, but it is amazing.
Still Wakes the Deep is a special experience. A brilliant setting for a horror story is matched by quality writing and stellar voice acting. It’s available on Game Pass at launch and I highly recommend giving it a try to anyone interested.
#Blud is a damned funny title with a great art style. While the combat and puzzles could leave me feeling a bit burnt out at times it’s still an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a beautiful, funny dungeon crawler.
For any fan of Alan Wake 2 and especially those that are invested in the greater Remedy storylines this expansion is a no-brainer. It’s $20 for this and the second release, Lake House, which should hit around October 2024. Do yourself a favor and play this ASAP and with as little info going in as possible. It looks and runs great and adds exciting new branches to the ever-expanding storyline of Remedy’s future titles.